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Projects/Programs

Displaying 26 - 48 of 48

Optical Probes of 2D Magnetic Phenomena

Ongoing
The unique measurement capabilities developed in this Project enable diffraction-limited, optical spectra (both Raman and photoluminescence) to be collected and analyzed as a function of laser energy, polarization, temperature, magnetic field, and device parameters such as current load and back

Plasma Metrology

Ongoing
Plasma, the fourth state of matter, is common in both nature (e.g., lightning, the earth's ionosphere, stellar objects) and in modern technology (e.g., semiconductor processing, lighting, plasma televisions, medical equipment). Yet despite this ubiquity, the plasma state is still a wide open

Precision Electro-Mechanical Experiments (PREME)

Ongoing
NIST-4 Kibble Balance Previously called ‘the Electronic Kilogram’ Project, a major component of PREME is the realization of SI unit of mass, the kilogram, using the NIST-4 Kibble balance, the fourth generation of Kibble balances at NIST. This is accomplished through a high-accuracy comparison of

Precision Measurement Grants Program

Ongoing
If funding is available, one new grant in the amount of $50,000 per year will be awarded for the initial period of October 1 through September 30 of the following year. The award may be continued for up to two additional years; however, future or continued funding will be at the discretion of NIST

Quantifying the environmental contributions to mass change

Ongoing
Experiments using two types of centimeter scale oscillators are described: the double paddle oscillator (DPO) and a commercial quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). Double Paddle Oscillator (DPO) Since mass changes are mostly on the surface of mass artifacts, we have implemented a micro-weighing sensor

Quantum Biophotonics

Ongoing
Applying recent advances in single-photon detection along with novel data processing methods developed in the quantum optics community opens fundamentally new opportunities for faint-light metrology down to that related to just a single molecule – i.e. precisely the conditions for bio-optical

Quantum Computation and Simulation with Neutral Atoms

Ongoing
Advances in quantum information have the potential to significantly improve sensor technology, complete computational tasks unattainable by classical means, provide understanding of complex many-body systems, and yield new insight regarding the nature of quantum physics. At NIST and around the world

Quantum Conductance

Ongoing
Inset: Example of an array device design. (a) An illustration of the graphene quantized Hall array resistance device with NbTiN interconnections (dark grey) between individual QHR elements (light grey) and the positions of the bonding wires that were used for the measurement (blue). The red inset

Quantum Many-Body Physics, Quantum Optics, and Quantum Information

Ongoing
Differences between typical AMO and condensed matter systems bring with them exciting new physics. In contrast to condensed matter systems, AMO systems are often studied far out of equilibrium, are evolving in time, and are subject to dissipation. As a result, many-body AMO systems open a whole new

Quantum matter from atomic gases

Ongoing
Ultracold atoms are a very different sort of system than conventional materials, composed of a few hundred to a few hundred million atoms, with densities ranging from 10 12 cm -3 to 10 15 cm -3, and at temperatures from below 1 nK to a couple uK. These atomic systems are unique in the simplicity of

Quantum Nonlinear Optics for Metrology and Networking

Completed
We have generated "twin beams" of light using four-wave mixing (4WM) that are correlated at a level better than can be displayed by classical radiators. One particularly useful feature of the 4WM technique is that the light can easily be made in multiple spatial modes. That is, images with quantum

Quantum Physics Theory

Ongoing
The scope of the work ranges from calculations of QED effects in atoms to detailed studies of photon wave functions.

Quantum Waveform Metrology

Ongoing
The recent redefinition of the SI was motivated in part by the success of quantum-based electrical standards, such as those based on the Josephson effect. Quantum standards enable the direct realization of physical quantities that are traceable to fundamental constants, invariant with respect to

Raman Metrology and Instrumentation

Ongoing
Raman spectroscopy/microscopy is a powerful optical technique for rapid, non-destructive, label-free characterization of materials. It works under ambient conditions, often without requirement of any sample preparation. Applications span microelectronics, pharmaceutical, security and fundamental

Reconditioning of the 4.45 MN deadweight machine

Completed
The 4.45 MN DWM has been in use in the NIST Force Laboratory since 1965 and is frequently characterized as the largest deadweight force standard in the world. Thousands of measurements through many force calibrations have been performed over the lifespan of the machine. The machine was the

Single photon measurements: Single Photon Tunneling

Completed
We are studying what happens when a single particle (in this case a photon) crosses a tunneling barrier. This is a particularly interesting question because tunneling is a fundamental distinguishing characteristic of quantum mechanics and it implies remarkable properties such as barrier crossing

Small Mass and Small Force Metrology at NIST

Ongoing
Project 1: The electronic milligram. As a result of kilogram redefinition within the SI, it may be possible to realize mass at the milligram level and below using electrical measurements. To this end, the NIST Electrostatic Force Balance (EFB) has been used to measure the mass of artifacts spanning

Sources, detectors and metrology

Ongoing
Detectors Detectors that can register individual photons are key to applications in quantum information, metrology, biology, and remote sensing, each having its own distinct detection requirements. In many ways, a single-photon detector is the device that spans the quantum-to-classical divide

Spinor Condensates and Ultracold Collisions

Ongoing
A Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC) collapses the wavefunctions of many particles in to a single quantum state. In a spinor BEC the atoms can be in a superposition of internal quantum states. Thus, a BEC of spin-1 particles, like the F = 1 ground state of Na atoms, can be thought of as being a single

Universal Quantum Bus

Ongoing
The goal to develop quantum computers—a long-awaited type of computer that could solve otherwise intractable problems, such as breaking complex encryption codes—has inspired scientists the world over to invent new devices that could become the brain and memory of these machines. Many of these tiny

Using Quantum Information for Thermodynamics

Ongoing
We re-envision thermodynamics using the mathematical and conceptual toolkit of quantum information theory. We call this research “quantum steampunk,” after the steampunk genre of art, literature, and film that juxtaposes Victorian settings with futuristic technologies. Leveraging quantum

X-ray computed tomography (CT) for medical applications

Completed
As scale lengths get smaller, diffraction becomes increasingly prominent in tomography. The work here develops diffraction tomography for laboratory sources. A new laboratory scale instrument at NIST/Boulder is dedicated to tomography of integrated circuit interconnects. Tomography software written